The Last Goodbye
by BioChick
Summary: He died protecting them. The final thoughts for a great ninja.


**Just a little something that I felt I needed to write. I was tearing up while writing it and I hope I conveyed enough emotion to make you do the same. Please review, but don't be mean. Not set during any particular time during the anime, sort of an AU if you will.**

The rain poured heavily onto the grounds around the memorial. Figures shrouded in black robes all huddled together to keep off the cold. The groups were a respectful distance from the grave, with the exception of one trio.

One figure was on its knees, sobbing into its hands. One other had its hand on the kneeler's shoulder. The final figure was just standing, staring into the grave where the casket was just lowered.

Slowly, the groups began to approach the grave, paying their last respects before leaving. All of his closest friends waited until the civilians were gone before approaching. Genma threw a black rose into the grave. "You were a great man Kakashi. Everyone will miss you, especially your team."

Turning, he walked over to the trio still huddled by the grave. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, squeezing it before doing the same to Naruto, who lifted his hand from Sakura's shoulder to give him a hug. Genma returned the hug, pulling back to see tears streaming down the ninja's face.

Finally, Genma knelt down to look at Sakura's face. She was still sobbing heavily into her hands, but he was able to lift her head. Staring into her eyes, he made sure she heard what he had to say. "He loved you and he wouldn't want you to stop your life because of this. Keep surviving. It's what he wanted."

Sakura threw herself into a hug as more tears overflowed. Genma hugged her tightly, before allowing himself to be removed from her embrace. While the boys were upset, Sakura was taking it the hardest. It wasn't hard to see why though; they had something more than a teacher-student relationship. Though it was never physical, there was no bond stronger than the one he saw between these two ninja.

Once every other ninja left, the trio made their move. Sasuke was the first of the trio to approach Kakashi's casket. He threw in an extra mask. "I'm sorry I wasn't the ninja you wanted me to be. I'll protect the other two, no matter what, in your stead. The one thing in life I never regretted was having you as my teacher. I'll miss you sensei."

Sasuke was overcome with emotion, for the first time letting his teammates know that he was human and had emotions. Leaving Sakura for a moment, Naruto walked up to Sasuke and gave him a hug. The two rivals put aside their differences for this moment and shared a moment between men.

Naruto was the first to pull away, patting Sasuke's shoulder before turning to the grave. "Kakashi-sensei," he paused to collect himself. "You were one of the only ninja to accept me as I was, to believe in me when I was a fool. You made me the ninja I am today and I will never forget you. One day, I will become Hokage, and I will do it in your honor. I'll make you proud sensei, even though it will be too late for you to do anything about it." Naruto took a bell out of his pocket.

"Remember this? I took it from you the day after our bell test back when we were genin. I never wanted to have that test again, but I guess one bell didn't make a difference." He tossed the tinkling ball into the grave, roughly wiping his eyes and saying, "Good-bye Kakashi, I'll make you proud and the whole city jealous to have missed out on you being their teacher."

Choking on a sob, he walked back to Sakura to help her to the grave. Sakura's sobs had lessened marginally, allowing her to walk up to the casket. Pulling out a pink ribbon, she let it float gracefully into the ground. She spent a moment collecting herself. She wasn't going to miss this opportunity to say one last thing to her teacher.

"Kakashi," she was overcome again and spent a few more minutes taking in huge breaths. "You were more than a teacher to me, more than a friend, more than anyone else in my life has ever been. I enjoyed our years together and I will miss them terribly."

Sasuke and Naruto looked on as Sakura blew a kiss to Kakashi. "I love you, and even though I never said it to you, I hope you realized it. I will never, ever forget you, and you will always hold my heart. I'll see you when my work here is done. Bye Kakashi."

Sakura stood and walked back to the boys, grabbing them into a group hug. For the first time, neither objected to the affection. Sasuke pulled away first and said, "It's time." Naruto and Sakura nodded grimly and turned to face Kakashi.

"Until we meet again sensei." Naruto said the final words as the three of them formed the seals to cover his casket with dirt. The grave was filled in, a tombstone marking the resting place of their teacher. His name was also etched into the memorial stone where he spent most of his time, forever marking him as a ninja who died for his city, for his home.

Naruto threw an arm around Sakura and started to lead her back to her apartment. Sasuke stayed behind a few moments longer to reread the grave marker.

_Kakashi Hatake_

_A great man. An extraordinary ninja._

_Died for his city and for his team._

_May he rest in peace, he will be missed._


End file.
